...let the healthy activity begin

well, it's officially time to get it back in gear...
so instead of whining about my arthritic joints...
I just have to start walking again...
and I'm not the only one here who needs the exercise...



since the dislocation drama of last year...
I haven't been taking Molly out with any regularity...
lots of excuses or "reasons"...
but the bottom line is that she has gained weight...
and has become so big & strong that I have trouble controlling her...



at about 60 pounds & compact[not too tall]...
she can be an irresistible force if she wants to go...
especially suddenly... so it is a challenge to my strength level...
and the pain threshold in my joints & muscles...

but also to my self-discipline, as being consistent in training her...
requires me to get outside of myself & focus on what she needs...
and since I tend to want to be left alone when I get home...
it will require me to develop more patience & get "out of myself"...

which is something I need to do more of, anyway...

but it's not just exercise that she needs more of...
she needs less calories...



now, to be fair... I must admit that Molly doesn't chew up & eat, things...
she chews on things: toys, bones, pig's ears, etc...
so the bottom tier and the 2nd tier of this pyramid...
do NOT apply to her at all...
[of course, I don't leave shoes where she can get them...]

she gets a scant cup of dry food[Purina One Lamb & Rice] once a day...
very few scraps[mostly meat...]and about a pig's ear a week...
it's the cat food & cat food "by-products" that get her in trouble...



I have tried putting the dry cat food "up"on a higher place...
but if it's low enough for the old kitties to get to...
Molly gets it too...she has no qualms about jumping up on cat perches...
if I put it where Molly can't get it, neither can the older kitties...
[especially Thomas, who nibbles all day & cries if the food is gone...]

same with the plastic dishes with canned cat food...
even the empty ones get carried off to her nest & licked clean...
so if she's at large in the house...
all cat food is "up"... & Thomas meows incessantly...

I really don't want to discuss the swiping of cat food cans from the trash...
or the much more obnoxious trolling of the cat boxes...
[& people wonder why I don't like "doggy kisses"...]

so I suppose that the only thing for me to do...
is to start walking regularly again...
make her behave[I still have the training collar]...
and just suck it up & work through the pain...

my muscles are still just a bit sore from things I did Saturday...
but that exercise was really very good for me...
& has actually had very little negative effect...
surprisingly, I haven't had any joint or back pain from it...
some of the terribly debilitating weakness in my legs seems gone...[!]
so in general, all that exercise was a good thing...

meaning, it's time to do more & get strong again...